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Canal Carp Advice

W

William Taylor

Senior Member
Hello,

I am attempting to target carp on my local canal, and I could use a bit of advice. I haven't really fished for carp before, and if any of you experienced carp or canal anglers out there could point me in the right direction, that would be great.

I have spent some time walking the towpath, its an uninterrupted section, mile after mile without a lock. I have spotted a decent sized fish, so I have a spot in mind. I have read lots about canal carping, and prebaiting seems to be a well used tactic. However, the stretch of canal I will be fishing has a very small amount of carp, and large amounts of chub and bream. Is prebaiting still going to help me? I mean, almost everything in the canal will demolish hemp/corn and greedy Chub will make quick work of boilies.

Rigs. I had no idea carp anglers liked rigs so much. There are too many to count, each one more complicated then the last. Its hard to know what works, and whats a bit of a gimmick. Can anyone recommend me some rigs, I know how to tie a basic knot-less knot, but thats about it. The canal is very silty down the middle, what would be the best way to combat this? I was thinking pop-up/balanced baits may be the way to go?

Might seem like an obvious question, but what locations do I fish? Margins? Down the middle? I know carp will look for features, bridges, boats etc.

Tight or slack lines? Is one better then the other? I did wonder about back leading, but its something I have no experience with.

Finally, If anyone has any advice or tips that you think I might find helpful, then that would be great.

Thanks
 
William Taylor said:
Hello,

I am attempting to target carp on my local canal, and I could use a bit of advice. I haven't really fished for carp before, and if any of you experienced carp or canal anglers out there could point me in the right direction, that would be great.

I have spent some time walking the towpath, its an uninterrupted section, mile after mile without a lock. I have spotted a decent sized fish, so I have a spot in mind. I have read lots about canal carping, and prebaiting seems to be a well used tactic. However, the stretch of canal I will be fishing has a very small amount of carp, and large amounts of chub and bream. Is prebaiting still going to help me? I mean, almost everything in the canal will demolish hemp/corn and greedy Chub will make quick work of boilies.

Rigs. I had no idea carp anglers liked rigs so much. There are too many to count, each one more complicated then the last. Its hard to know what works, and whats a bit of a gimmick. Can anyone recommend me some rigs, I know how to tie a basic knot-less knot, but thats about it. The canal is very silty down the middle, what would be the best way to combat this? I was thinking pop-up/balanced baits may be the way to go?

Might seem like an obvious question, but what locations do I fish? Margins? Down the middle? I know carp will look for features, bridges, boats etc.

Tight or slack lines? Is one better then the other? I did wonder about back leading, but its something I have no experience with.

Finally, If anyone has any advice or tips that you think I might find helpful, then that would be great.

Thanks
Click to expand...
When I did a spell I found a lovely spot covered with lilies on the far bank , I prebaited it for 3 weeks with boilie s , the Sunday I decided to fish evening into dark.When I arrived all the lillies had gone , another carper had raked the lot out , I was mad as all the prebaiting I’d done . Anyway I still fished and had a lovely common of 11 -3 on a solid bag fished with a kd rig with a similar looking pop up to match the hatch lol.obvious this was summer time , never done winter carp on the canal . But preffered a solid bag because of all the debris that can be on the bottom of the canal .I also used a back lead as out canal has boat traffic . Good luck
 
If these carp are not regularly being fished for then there is no need for complicated rigs. So keep it simple. A running rig with a long hook length. Or my favourite, a float rig fished over depth.
I would very lightly prebait for a few days with 10mm boilies scattered over an area the size of large table, then fish the same on the hook.
 
William,
If you can fish opposite the entrance to a marina after dark, when boats are not on the move, bait and fish the entrance and follow Mikes advice about keeping things simple. Carpers would like you to believe that their rig is best and catches more but the good old fashioned hair rig should do you fine. Peters recommendation of a back lead should also be kept in mind. I will add that this is not my own experience but of a mate who has caught very successfully from a a very slow/almost static running river which resembles a canal.
Good Luck and regards,
Bill W
 
Turning points & small temp moorings are worth looking at, the bottom gets stirred up by the prop. Early morning and dusk are best less boat traffic. Ive used simple rigs when we’ve fished the GUC and the slough arm normally just float fished to be honest
 
I echo Mike Thompson's advice. Fish simple. I use a sliding float shotted 3/4 of its stated load over a sliding small ledger fished over depth so I tighten up to cock the float. That way I don't have to plumb the bottom, it finds its own depth.

Bait is a grain of maize (not sweetcorn) or a small Frolicks dog biscuit. Fish down the margins on the shelf and this time of year don't put too much bait in, and fish the sunny side of the canal if there is any sun to be had.

Rather than pre-bait I prefer to look for the fish and cast to them making as little disturbance as possible. Just a few free offerings scattered around where they are feeding, but not directly over their heads.
 
I used to get a lot of carp many years ago on the canal at Tring fishing matches. The carp up to around 15lb used to lie between the point of the boat and the bank on the far side. The cast had to go right into the gap to get a bite. They would often cut anglers off by running down the boat the line would then dig in or get ripped along the hull. I Managed to sort it out by using a 35lb shock leader the feeder would be on the 35lb leader with a short hooklength. The Carp would still run along the boat but the 35lb shock leader would stand up to all the rubbing. On thing to try in the Summer on the canal is floaters, you can often find carp that are not visible by firing in a few mixers. Its a quick way to see if there are any carp about on warm days
 
William Taylor said:
Hello,

I am attempting to target carp on my local canal, and I could use a bit of advice. I haven't really fished for carp before, and if any of you experienced carp or canal anglers out there could point me in the right direction, that would be great.

I have spent some time walking the towpath, its an uninterrupted section, mile after mile without a lock. I have spotted a decent sized fish, so I have a spot in mind. I have read lots about canal carping, and prebaiting seems to be a well used tactic. However, the stretch of canal I will be fishing has a very small amount of carp, and large amounts of chub and bream. Is prebaiting still going to help me? I mean, almost everything in the canal will demolish hemp/corn and greedy Chub will make quick work of boilies.

Rigs. I had no idea carp anglers liked rigs so much. There are too many to count, each one more complicated then the last. Its hard to know what works, and whats a bit of a gimmick. Can anyone recommend me some rigs, I know how to tie a basic knot-less knot, but thats about it. The canal is very silty down the middle, what would be the best way to combat this? I was thinking pop-up/balanced baits may be the way to go?

Might seem like an obvious question, but what locations do I fish? Margins? Down the middle? I know carp will look for features, bridges, boats etc.

Tight or slack lines? Is one better then the other? I did wonder about back leading, but its something I have no experience with.

Finally, If anyone has any advice or tips that you think I might find helpful, then that would be great.

Thanks
Click to expand...
How do mate, apologies for the late reply as I've only just seen the thread. I pretty much exclusively fish for carp on canals when targeting them so I may be able to offer some advice.

First port of call is to get the polarised glasses out and go for a walk/bike ride and try to locate some fish. If you're not fortunate enough to see any then search for likely features such as vegetation, bridges, marinas, long stay boats etc etc. Once you have found your preferred spots prebaiting becomes your second hobby. I like to keep bait going in at least once a week in a few spots, starting with particles and slowly upping hookbait content closer to my intended session. Keep monitoring your spots to see if they've been cleared, also try not to be obvious as some unscrupulous folk will piggy back on your hard work. When it comes to actually fishing I don't put a bed of bait down, I fish for a bite at a time using either a pva bag or dropping in with a baiting pole.

Rig wise I have 3 rigs I use, a multi-rig for 95% of my fishing, a stiff hinge rig if there's a bit more rubbish on the deck or a blow back rig for bottom baits. In terms of rig placement the obvious choice is as close to a given feature you can possibly get assuming there's enough depth. Never discount the nearside margin, though I've found this produces once everything has gone quiet, always backlead and keep everything nailed to the deck.

I fish slack lines in the margins and semi-slack elsewhere unless I'm fishing locked up/snag fishing.

If there's anything else you need to know feel free to ask.
 
William Taylor said:
Hello,

I am attempting to target carp on my local canal, and I could use a bit of advice. I haven't really fished for carp before, and if any of you experienced carp or canal anglers out there could point me in the right direction, that would be great.

I have spent some time walking the towpath, its an uninterrupted section, mile after mile without a lock. I have spotted a decent sized fish, so I have a spot in mind. I have read lots about canal carping, and prebaiting seems to be a well used tactic. However, the stretch of canal I will be fishing has a very small amount of carp, and large amounts of chub and bream. Is prebaiting still going to help me? I mean, almost everything in the canal will demolish hemp/corn and greedy Chub will make quick work of boilies.

Rigs. I had no idea carp anglers liked rigs so much. There are too many to count, each one more complicated then the last. Its hard to know what works, and whats a bit of a gimmick. Can anyone recommend me some rigs, I know how to tie a basic knot-less knot, but thats about it. The canal is very silty down the middle, what would be the best way to combat this? I was thinking pop-up/balanced baits may be the way to go?

Might seem like an obvious question, but what locations do I fish? Margins? Down the middle? I know carp will look for features, bridges, boats etc.

Tight or slack lines? Is one better then the other? I did wonder about back leading, but its something I have no experience with.

Finally, If anyone has any advice or tips that you think I might find helpful, then that would be great.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Think youve answered your own question partially. The first place I would focus on would be where you saw the fish.

I used to do a bit of carping on the B'ham/Worcs canal early 80s and the carp were always in the same spots.
 
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